Fond Memories
by emygrl99
Summary: Modern AU where Sabo is Ace and Luffy's dad. LamiexLuffy


**Hey guys! This was inspired by the lovely sabolus, she runs an amazing Sabo fan blog on Tumblr, you should go check it out! Lamie x Luffy is a ship I've been secretly obsessing over for a long time too, so I just had to add it in here! :D**

 **Beta'd by LeafyxThiefy**

 **Edit: I thought I'd add that in the flashback, Sabo is in his late 20s and Ace and Luffy are ASL age.**

Sabo stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie was the big day, the day one of his boys grows up.

 _I can't believe how fast the years have gone by_ , Sabo thought, a sad smile on his face as he stepped away from the mirror, picking up a photo sitting on the dresser. It was a picture of him, Ace and Luffy when they were still kids. It had been a rare sweet moment, Sabo could remember that day as clearly as if it was yesterday.

 _Ace was 10 and Luffy was 7. It was one of Sabo's rare nights off and they were heading to a barbeque at the Trafalgar's. Sabo never had a lot of time to spend with his boys, what with him taking a double shift at the Baratie while also maintaining a night job working in a laundromat just to keep them afloat. Despite all of his work Sabo made a point to spend every second he could with them. That day was Fourth of July, a perfect summer's evening for a barbeque. Luffy had been ecstatic when he found out about their plans. Ace had acted indifferent, but Sabo could tell he was eager to see Law again. Sabo was excited himself, this evening off had been a long time coming._

" _C'mon, Sabo, walk faster! Hurry! We're gonna miss the meat!" Luffy whined, pulling hard on Sabo's shirt as he locked the front door and began making his way to the car slowly, occasionally stopping to look at a flower or a cloud, pretending not to notice his son's impatient tugs. Ace was already waiting at the passenger seat door, his hands on his waist as he watched his brother's antics._

" _Stop that, Luffy, can't you see that you're making him walk slower?" he said impatiently, and the effect was instantaneous. Luffy let go of Sabo's shirt and bit his lip, making Sabo almost. fall from the loss of his counterweight. Sabo stumbled around playfully until he fell right on Luffy purposefully. Luffy squirmed and laughed as Sabo lay limp on top of him, being careful not to crush his son._

" _Get off!" Luffy yelled, feebly trying to push his father off of him. "We have to GO!"_

" _Can't- move," Sabo gasped breathlessly. "Too- heavy."_

" _Ace, help!" Luffy pleaded, hand slapping the ground, desperately trying to escape._

" _No way, a real man can get out of any situation he gets himself into," Ace said proudly, a confident smile on his face._

 _Luffy's pushing grew stronger, and eventually he managed to shove Sabo to the side just a little bit, but it enough for him to wiggle out from underneath the older man._

" _I'm free!" Luffy cheered, a wide grin on his face. Ace then walked over and thumped his brother on the head for no apparent reason, a scowl on his face._

" _Stop messing around, I'm hungry!" he complained, and Sabo saw his opportunity. As Luffy distracted Ace with talk of what kinds of food they were gonna eat, Sabo slowly rolled onto his stomach and shifted back so he was in a low crouch, muscles tense and ready to go._

" _Tickle Attack!" Sabo cried and pounced on Ace, his hands reaching for his victim's sensitive torso. The boy squealed as they fell over and Ace's frown vanished under the barrage of fingers. He flailed wildly, trying to escape, but Sabo had him pinned securely between his knees so the boy was trapped on his back in the grass helpless to stop the affectionate assault._

" _Do you surrender?" Sabo asked, already knowing the answer. Ace shook his head stubbornly, and Sabo mock frowned, pausing in his attack. "Then you leave me no choice," he said as gravely as he could manage considering the situation, and resumed with renewed vigor, going for the boy's sides this time. Ace's giggling grew louder, he was gasping for breath now. Sabo let up slightly, noticing how Ace's face had turned bright red, worried._

 _Suddenly, Ace lashed out again, grabbing Sabo's hands in his moment's hesitation, knocking him off balance. Ace then brought his knees up and planted his feet on Sabo's chest, heaving the older man off of him with surprising strength._

" _See, Luffy? I told you, a real man can get out of anything!" Ace bragged proudly as he stood up, face still flushed. Luffy agreed wholeheartedly, stars in his eyes as he looked up at his brother._

 _Sabo chuckled and sat up, grabbing the boys attention as they looked at him warily._

" _What're those looks for? I'm ready to eat, aren't you?" Sabo asked innocently, hands up by his shoulders in surrender. Luffy gasped at the reminder and pelted for the car, Ace following closely behind. Sabo chuckled again and stood up, brushing the grass off his clothes and finally unlocking the car._

 _The drive to the Trafalgar's house was short, with Luffy practically vibrating in the back seat next to a huffy Ace. Sabo smiled secretly to himself as he drove, he didn't mind the quiet that settled in the car even as it was frequently interrupted by an animated Luffy. They arrived to the other family's house before they knew it, Sabo parking their car on the curb._

 _The moment the car stopped Luffy was already out of his seat and running for the front door. Not for the first time, Sabo was left wondering where all that energy came from. Mrs Trafalgar greeted the trio warmly and led them out to the backyard where Mr Trafalgar was firing up the grill, a plate of uncooked burgers ready to go._

 _While the boys ran off to play with Lamie and Law, Sabo sat with their parents on the deck, an iced lemonade in his hand. They talked casually about various topics as they watched their children play, and Sabo began to feel more relaxed than he had in a while. It wasn't easy being a single parent, trying to earn enough money for the boys to stay in school and making sure they always had enough to eat. Especially with how much food they could eat, Sabo chuckled to himself and took a sip of lemonade, watching his boys chase after each other._

 _He watched Luffy in particular, noticing how his son played with Lamie, the Trafalgar's sweet little daughter. She was around Luffy's age, if Sabo remembered correctly. He had noticed a long time ago how differently his son treated her, smiling softly as they ran around catching fireflies and looking at beetles. Whenever Luffy tried to do something risky like climb a tree, or when he started talking too fast that it was hard for her to keep up, all Lamie would have to do was say the word and Luffy would stop, easily adjusting to her pace. It was incredible, really. Not even Ace could curb Luffy's wild ideas like that. It wasn't hard to tell how much Lamie liked Luffy, and even easier to see Luffy that felt the same, even if he didn't know it yet._

 _Later that night after a loud and messy dinner, Mr Trafalgar brought out sparklers for the kids to play with, an activity Luffy had taken a liking to instantly. He and Lamie tried to trace letters and pictures into the air, writing their names and words that made them giggle madly._

 _A firework went off abruptly somewhere nearby, and Luffy jumped in surprise, bringing his hands to his ears to guard them from the loud boom. Lamie yelped when she realized that Luffy, who had been holding a sparkler in his hand, had accidentally set his hair on fire. Ace panicked, running over to an unaware Sabo and pointing at Luffy and speaking incoherently. Looking to where Ace was pointing with concern, Sabo's stomach dropped when he saw Luffy's head on fire. He and Ace frantically dashed over to the kids, Sabo throwing a towel on his son's head and trying to beat out the flames while Ace stood a distance away, looking horrified but unsure how to help._

 _When the fire was finally out, Sabo grabbed his son's head, looking for any injuries. The fire hadn't lasted long, but it managed to burn off most of the hair on the right side of Luffy's head, leaving his skin red and shiny. He called Mr trafalgar over and waited with bated breath as the doctor looked over his son's injury, occasionally asking the boy a question. Finally, he stood and turned to Sabo._

" _It's not a bad burn, he'll be fine with some ointment and maybe painkillers if it really hurts. Make sure to keep his head bandaged for at least a week." Sabo felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he looked at his son again, glad that it wasn't serious. He mentally scolded himself for not keeping a closer eye on Luffy, but was pulled from his thoughts by two small hands wrapping around his waist. He looked down in surprise at Luffy who was looking up at him sadly._

" _Don't be sad, dad."_

 _Sabo gave his son a light smile and pulled the boy up into his arms, earning a giggle and a small yelp of surprise._

" _Me? Sad? Never!" Sabo scoffed playfully. "How about we go get some ice cream, huh?" he offered, and Luffy grinned at him, sadness forgotten._

" _Yeah!" He jumped out of Sabo's arms and ran inside where Mrs Trafalgar was waiting with three bowls. They all ate their ice cream together happily, though Sabo was careful to keep a close eye on Luffy for the rest of the night._

 _At the suggestion of Lamie, Luffy decided that he liked his new haircut, and that was when the picture was taken. Luffy standing next to Lamie, a bright grin and chocolate syrup on his face with half his hair burnt off. Ace was shouting at them for stealing his ice cream, and in the background stood Sabo, looking at the three of them with clear exasperation on his face._

A knock on the door startled Sabo out of his reminiscion.

"Come in,"he called softly, putting the picture frame down in its original spot.

The door opened to reveal Luffy dressed in his tux, a nervous smile on his lips.

"Hey, dad," he said hesitantly, and Sabo grinned, giving the boy a tight hug. Or, the _man_ he should say. Luffy was all grown up now, no matter how unwilling Sabo was to admit it.

"Hey! You look great," he gushed, smoothing out the wrinkles on his son's suit and straightening his tie. Luffy knocked his hands away, blushing slightly. Sabo didn't take offense by it and stepped back, getting a good look at his son.

"I can't believe today is the day. Are you ready?" Sabo asked. "I can't wait for you to see Lamie, she looks stunning."

Luffy grinned at that and laughed. "I know, she yelled at me and told me to get out when I saw her though. Something about a surprise?" he said, confusion clear on his face. Sabo chuckled at his son's obliviousness and told him not to worry about it. A traditional wedding with Luffy involved was never going to happen. They'd had to take extra measures to make sure that everything turned out right. The cake wasn't even arriving until after dinner just to be sure that Luffy wouldn't eat it beforehand.

"Sabo! It's time!" Koala came running into the room, clipboard in hand as she tried to keep things moving. Sabo felt his heart leap at the words and with excitement he could barely contain, he took Luffy by the arm and led him from the room downstairs, where his friends and family were eagerly waiting.


End file.
